This invention relates to a method for determining a setting condition of an apparatus for assembling mail items from mail components, and to an apparatus for assembling mail items from mail components.
Such a method and such an apparatus are known from European patent specification 0 556 922. In that specification, it is proposed to feed and scan a number of documents prior to starting a run. Data regarding these documents, such as length and identification, as obtained in scanning, can be stored. These data can subsequently be used in controlling the system, for instance for actuating selected feeder stations for feeding one or more documents contained therein, or for setting a folding station. In particular, it can be determined which insert documents are located in which feeder stations. These feeder stations can then be actuated, when assembling the mail items, depending on indicia on the main documents, which indicia indicate what insert documents are to be added. Accordingly, in that case, the system itself determines which feeder stations are to be actuated during that run in order for the correct insert documents to be added to a main document.
A drawback of this system is that the setting of the system must be set prior to a run or job, so as to indicate which feeder stations are to be used during that run. If this not done and, for instance, all feeder stations are on, xe2x80x98errorxe2x80x99 reports or xe2x80x98emptyxe2x80x99 reports will be generated for the unfilled units, because no documents will have been placed in those units.
More common in practice, for that matter, are systems in which each mail item has the same composition, which is determined by the selection of feeder stations which have been turned on. Such systems also present the problem that the operator of the apparatus must specify which feeder stations are to be used during a particular job or run, because otherwise undesirable xe2x80x98errorxe2x80x99 reports or xe2x80x98emptyxe2x80x99 reports will be generated. In response to such reports, systems generally switch to a standby mode which is not left until operational interventions have been detected in the system, such as opening a valve or filling a tray.
It is an object of the invention to provide a solution with which activities which are to be carried out prior to the execution of a job or run in a mail assembly system with a plurality of feeder stations which are not all of them to be used all the time, can be limited and simplified.
According to the present invention, this object is achieved by providing a method for determining a setting condition of an apparatus for assembling mail items from mail components, comprising detecting, in a setting phase, in which of a number of feeder stations mail components are present, while in response to the detection, during the setting phase, of at least one mail component in at least one specimen of the feeder stations in the setting condition determined by the apparatus, that at least one specimen of the feeder stations is in operating condition, and in response to the non-detection, during the setting phase, of the presence of at least one mail component in another specimen of the feeder stations, the other specimen of the feeder stations is in non-operating condition.
The invention further provides an apparatus for assembling mail items from mail components, comprising a number of feeder stations for feeding mail components to be processed into mail items, means for detecting actual data regarding mail components loaded into feeder stations of the system, a control unit for determining, in response to the actual data, at least one setting of the system, detection means coupled to the control unit for detecting in a setting phase in which of the feeder stations mail components are present, while in the setting condition of the system, at least one specimen of the feeder stations is in operating condition in response to the detected presence of at least one mail component in the at least one feeder station, and, in response to the non-detection of the presence of at least one mail component in another specimen of the feeder stations, this other specimen of the feeder stations is in non-operating condition. Such an apparatus is specifically adapted for carrying out the proposed method.
As the determination of whether a feeder station is to be brought into an operating condition or non-operating condition is done automatically, depending on the detection, or non-detection, in a setting phase, in which of the feeder stations mail components are present, and subsequently, in an operating phase, exclusively feeder stations that are in operating condition are controlled for activation, then exclusively those feeder stations in which mail components are present are brought into an operating condition, without the operator needing to determine which feeder stations are to be active or non-active. By ensuring prior to a run or job that the mail components to be processed, such as documents, inserts and envelopes in which these are to be packaged are placed in the different feeder stations, it is thus automatically accomplished that only the filled, and hence useable, feeder stations are operatively controlled for feeding documents. It can also be provided that only that system setting condition or those system setting conditions is or are proposed to the operator that fit the configuration of loaded and non-loaded feeder stations. The actual bringing into the operating condition, or non-operating condition, of the feeder stations is then done after confirmation of a selection of a system setting condition by the user.
Further objects, aspects, effects and details of the invention are described below with reference to an exemplary embodiment presently preferred most, represented in the drawing.